09Dec01: Croydon v Cambridge City Cambridge made the long journey to Royal Russell School for a BKA Cup match on Sunday - and probably went back wishing they hadn't, after a 31-6 thumping by the current holders, Croydon. The two teams had already met once this year, in the first match of the National League Season, with Croydon emerging 25-10 victors then. Croydon brought in Julia Hook for her second first team game this season, in place of the injured Alison Rotheram. Cambridge looked to be missing at least one, and maybe two, first-choice girls. So far this season, Croydon have made a habit of starting slowly, but this time were able to race into an 8-0 lead thanks to a brace of goals from each of their four men, Ivan Aquino, Dave Butters, Steve Jones and Andy Withers. A shell-shocked Cambridge showed some signs of life and Lia Matthews had three penalties in quick succession. The GB youth international scored 1 and missed the next two, but Julian Lipscombe and a James Trubridge penalty spared some of her blushes, taking the score to 8-3. Croydon replied through a Butters free throw and a Jones goal, but Matthews picked up another goal. Butters scored his fourth first half goal, and Janine Collier became the first of Croydon's women to get on the scoresheet just before half time with a neatly executed turn in feed, to send Croydon into the interval 12-4 up. Cambridge's much needed half time break clearly had some positive effects as they were able to score two goals in reply to Croydon's four in the first few minutes of the second half. 16-6 was as good as it got for the visitors however, as Croydon launched into a remarkable run of 15 goals without reply. Andy Withers, Croydon's player of the match, barely missed a shot and finished the match with a personal-best 7 goals, all from open play. Other high-scorers included Steve Jones, with 6 including a free throw and two penalties; Butters, with 5 goals including 1 free throw; and Collier who finished with 4 goals. Anna Tester surprised herself, not to mention the Croydon bench, by scoring 3 goals, as did Aquino. Kim Jones, Julia Hook and Ryan Dring (a second half substitute for Aquino) all chipped in with one apiece. This match will have given Croydon a much-needed boost after the disappointment of losing last week's match against Mitcham. Not only was the shooting of the highest quality, but also the defence held firm for the full 60 minutes - Cambridge scoring only 3 goals from open play in the whole match. On this form, next week's opponents, Trojans, may want to head for the bunkers now. But then, Croydon are nothing if not consistent in their inconsistency, so coach Steve Jones will be keen to quosh any chicken-counting just yet. As for Cambridge, it is to be hoped that some of their younger players in particular will learn from their games against top players, both in this match and others, for they have shown at times that they have the ability and the desire to build up a team that can compete at the top level. As countless soccer managers have said before, they can at least now concentrate on the league, where they look to have their work cut out staving off relegation. Match Report by Andy Final Score: Croydon 1 31 vs 6 Cambridge City 1There were no Croydon scorers in this game.
